U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, 92 years old and appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1998, will oversee the criminal case against deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, according to an X post by PollTracker2024 shared between 12:45 a.m. and 1:15 a.m. UTC on January 4, 2026. The same post cited a YouGov poll showing 51% of respondents believed President Donald Trump should have sought congressional authorization before using military force in Venezuela, with 36% stating the U.S. is better off with Maduro overthrown and 25% saying recent U.S. military actions have made the country more safe. An X post by raging545 during the 29-minute window noted January 3, 2026, as the date of Maduro's U.S. capture, paralleling historical U.S. military actions on January 3, 1990, with Panama's Manuel Noriega and January 3, 2020, with Iran's Qassem Soleimani. The assignment follows Maduro's arrival at Westside Heliport in New York just before 12:15 a.m. UTC on January 4, as previously reported.
